References New York State Council on the Arts Report on the Status of Women: A Limited Engagement? (2002) by Susan Jonas and Suzanne Bennett www.womenarts.org/nysca-report-2002/ Opening the Curtain on Playwright […]

“My family has been in America since before the Revolutionary War. There are times that I wish I actually were first generation, but it’s kind of weird to think that my family has been here that long.”

“My Great Grandmother came over from Germany when she was 2 years old. She was one of my favorite story tellers. Since she was very young when she came over she didn’t have many stories of her time in Germany that I remember, however, I loved listening to her stories of growing up in her family culture. I think my Papa definitely brought some of that culture into his family and my dad brought that to me and my sisters.”

“All too many immigration stories involve a harrowing, death-defying flight from danger. But all of them, every one, involves the dream of a better life for the immigrant and their family, the risk that those dreams won’t come true, and the hope that their adoptive country will embrace and shelter them. This perspective is a gift my grandmother gave me, and it’s the perspective I try to keep in mind as our country strives to understand what, from now on, it means to be an immigrant.”

“My fiancé’s grandmother and grandfather immigrated from Latvia. His grandmother, Velta Sparins, was among the first women biology researchers at the University of Minnesota and made history during the women’s rights movements. She has always been a strength to look up to I am grateful for America to be a place for many to seek refuge and thrive.”